


Prime Suggestion

by Silvarbelle



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-13
Updated: 2012-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-31 03:26:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/339353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvarbelle/pseuds/Silvarbelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rodney received the call over the radio from Ronon, he never hesitated:  “Somethin’s wrong with Sheppard.  Get to the Gateroom.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prime Suggestion

**Author's Note:**

> 1: Many thanks to Crystallic Sky for beta-ing this on the fly for me!
> 
> 2: I don't own Stargate or any parts thereof.
> 
> 3: I really, totally, seriously HATE the episode "Irresistible." I especially hate the tainting of Rodney's character at the end of it. Sure, he'd prank Sheppard - but the writers implied Rodney would use the drug to coerce otherwise unwilling people into having sex with him. McKay is many things - arrogant asshole, brilliant, easily frightened; just to name a few - but he's not a rapist. So, ignoring that implication, I worked from the prankster angle.

When Rodney received the call over the radio from Ronon, he never hesitated.

_“Somethin’s wrong with Sheppard. Get to the Gateroom.”_

Those words in his ear struck a bolt of terror through Rodney like nothing ever had. His stool toppled over and he raced from his lab, to the astonished cries of his fellow scientists that had been in the room with him, and made all due haste to the Gateroom.

When he arrived at the top of the stairs that led down into the room proper, Rodney stumbled to a halt beside Ronon, who had chosen a high advantage point and had his blaster out and aimed. Rodney gaped, shocked, at the sight of John Sheppard cavorting around the room, hooting and screeching and moving like a monkey. Ringed around the room were John’s soldiers led by Lorne, some scientists, some medics, Teyla and the admin staff.

“What in hell is _going on here?!_ ” McKay shouted, skittering down the steps towards Sheppard.

John let out a shriek and scrambled toward the Stargate. He moved too quickly for his own soldiers and shimmied his way up the curve of the ring until he crouched at the top, chattering down at Rodney with a scowl.

“Sheppard?” McKay prompted, curious. Without waiting for a reply, he turned to Elizabeth and Teyla. “What—?”

Rodney broke off as he caught sight of three scientists lurking on the fringes. Their faces were a study in embarrassment, fear and despair.

It took Rodney only a moment to piece all the clues together. Jones, Khalil, and Dackins were aerobiologists. They had been working in the biological experiment lab investigating the properties and uses of the influential serum that Lucius Luvin had used on the Atlantis expedition.

“You three!” he snarled, pointing at them.

The three scientists flinched and scattered to run, but they were blocked by soldiers moving swiftly into place. They were then herded back toward McKay, who stood waiting with a look of fury and doom on his face.

“We never—“

“We were just—“

“We’re _sorry_ —“

“Not _yet_ you’re not,” Rodney growled, interrupting their jumbled words. “But don’t worry: I’ll fix _that_.”

All three men hastily muffled whimpers and huddled a little closer together. Manly pride took a backseat to anything else when McKay was completely furious – especially when anything had happened to the Colonel.

“One of you explain to me how the hell Colonel Sheppard got dosed,” McKay snarled, “and do it _quickly!_ ”

“What are you talking about, Rodney?” Elizabeth asked, stepping forward. Concern was fading to a grim expression as she stared at the troublemakers.

Rodney quickly outlined the scientists’ project. Around the room, angry murmurs rose from the soldiers; the noise interspersed with Sheppard’s muttered monkey noises.

“Either he wandered in by accident – which I doubt, as even Sheppard has a healthy and understandable wariness of biological experiments – or these three _deliberately_ dosed him,” Rodney snapped. “Which is it?”

Shame and resentment filtered across their faces. Dackins muttered something in Welsh, looking at the floor.

Rodney’s fury increased and his hands curled into tightly clenched fists. “You think _this_ is _harmless?_ ”

The shock on Dackins’ face was almost comical.

“Yes, I can understand your silly guttural language,” Rodney snapped.

“What did he say?” asked Teyla, scowling at the man.

“He said it was supposed to be a little bit of harmless fun. This was a _prank_ at Colonel Sheppard’s expense!”

The three scientists huddled a little closer together as the ire of the gathered Lanteans descended more heavily upon them.

“He did the same thing!” Jones cried, pointing at McKay. “When it first happened, he used some to make Sheppard clean his room!”

“It was a prank between two close _friends_ ,” Rodney snarled; “one that he forgave me for by playing a prank back. Had our positions been reversed, he’d have done the same thing – he even said so! And why did we do that? Because we _trust_ each other. We would never do this with _malice_ aforethought! We would never use it to outright humiliate or hurt anyone with it!”

“He’s not hurt now!”

“But he _will_ be humiliated! Having this happen to him in front of the soldiers he commands, in front of his friends and colleagues – do you inbred, mouth-breathing twits _really believe_ he’ll shrug this off with an ‘aw, shucks’ and let it be?” Rodney sneered at them. “You’ll be lucky if we can keep him from shooting you dead the instant he snaps out of this.”

Sheppard chose that moment to let out a piercing shriek of agitation and bounce on his braced feet. He toppled over, but caught the edge of the ‘Gate and scrambled back up, even as a group of soldiers clustered below him in case he fell completely.

Rodney, his entire body clenched all over in fear, whirled on the three men.

“Whichever one of you is issuing the orders, _get him down from there_ ,” he said, his voice guttural with fury.

“Colonel Sheppard,” Jones said immediately, and John perked up to face him from his perch; “come down from there, carefully. Let someone help you.”

Chittering and cooing, John moved to begin sliding down a curved side of the Stargate.

“And knock off the monkey noises!” Elizabeth snapped, her teeth clenched in anger.

“A-And no more monkey noises,” Jones added, trembling slightly. “No more acting like a monkey, ever.”

At that, John went silent and any animation in his face went away; his expression slack as he moved with autonomic precision down into the waiting, helping hands of his soldiers.

Rodney turned his attention back on the three errant scientists. The glare coming from him was almost laser-strong, leaving them psychologically scorched.

“You damned idiots,” he hissed. “You _morons_. You’re fired; absolutely fucking _fired_. You will be gone from Atlantis by the fastest means possible and I will leave it to Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard to determine if you’ll be arrested for what you’ve done.”

“Then they’ll have to arrest you, too, because you pranked him first,” Khalil shot back.

“So be it,” Rodney growled, surprising them. “If that’s what it takes to ensure he receives justice for this—“

“Rodney, calm down,” Elizabeth commanded. “You’re not going to be arrested, especially as there’s no proof.” A fierce glare at the three men sent the silent message that not a damn person on the expedition would side with them if they tried to get McKay arrested.

“This isn’t _fair!_ ” Dackins howled. “It was just a harmless bit of fun!”

“Stop _saying_ that!” Rodney shouted. He gestured wildly toward Sheppard, who stood safely surrounded by his soldiers. “Why do you _not_ count _psychological_ injury as _harm?_ You have removed his ability to control himself, you’ve forced him to behave in an embarrassing manner in front of his command… you’ve all but mind-raped him!”

“We did not!” Jones shouted. “Fine, we played a prank, but we never intended to harm him! We never made him do anything _dangerous_ and we never took it to a personal level! We never told him, ‘Oh, hey, Sheppard – go find whoever you’re in love with and kiss ‘em passionately!’ We never—“

He broke off as John Sheppard went into motion, striding definitely toward Weir, Teyla, and Rodney.

“Idiots!” Rodney hissed at them, even as he, Ronon, and Lorne moved to block Teyla and Elizabeth from John’s approach. “Tell him—“

Rodney broke off in shock as Sheppard caught hold of him. John’s left arm slid around his waist, pulling Rodney against him while his right hand slid up to cup the back of McKay’s neck, anchoring him in place and tilting his face up to receive John’s kiss.

Absolute silence descended as John Sheppard laid a kiss on Rodney McKay that made _other_ people’s toes curl just watching it.

Rodney went rigid, shocked to his core. It was what kept him from struggling or from kissing back; startled beyond rational thought as John’s mouth moved against his, John’s tongue dipping inside to taste him.

The kiss didn’t last long. Rodney snapped out of it quickly enough and wrenched his head to the side, freeing his mouth. John simply shifted his attention to McKay’s neck. The touch of his lips and tongue to Rodney’s sensitive skin made him shudder; as did the way John’s hands slid down his back to firmly cup his buttocks, kneading them through his uniform trousers.

“Tell him,” Rodney growled at Jones even as he shivered vividly, “that he is to behave as if he were never ever under the influence of anything – ever!”

“C-C-Colonel Sh-Sheppard,” Jones stammered, eyes wide and still locked on the amorous scene in front of him. “For… for the rest of your life, behave as you normally would – as if you were never under the influence of any substance whatsoever!”

Immediately, John went still against Rodney.

Rodney hesitantly patted his back as he felt the other man begin to shake against him. “Sheppard? John? John, it’s – ow! _Ow!_ ”

The pained yelp as John’s hands clenched against him, digging into his buttocks with surprising and extremely painful force, could not be helped. He shoved at John instinctively, trying to get free. It was unnecessary as he let go of Rodney the instant his pained cry let loose.

Sheppard stumbled back a step or two, his hands lifted in a surrender gesture, his fingers splayed. His expression as he slowly lowered them was dark with fury and humiliation; his mouth a flat, grim line of displeasure.

Nobody moved or said anything for a few moments.

Then, with fluid grace, John dropped a hand to where his P-14 – sardonically named Mother Maybelle – sat snugged inside its holster. The weapon was pulled free, came up, aimed—

Red light engulfed him and then crackled across his body as Ronon’s blaster fired before John could pull the trigger on the three scientists he’d been aiming at. With a harsh groan, Sheppard dropped to the floor – unconscious before he hit the ground.

Elizabeth nodded a tight thank you at Ronon even as Lorne directed a few Marines to scoop Sheppard up at Carson’s command.

“Oh, my God,” Jones whispered. “He was – he was going to _shoot_ us! He would have _murdered_ us right—“

He broke off with a pained shriek as Rodney’s fist slammed into his face.

Yelling broke out in furious volume from everyone as McKay continued to attack, striking at whichever of the three men he could reach. It lasted only seconds before Ronon got his arms around him, locking him down.

Teyla stepped in front of him, taking hold of his face and forcing him to look at her.

“Calm yourself, Rodney!” she snapped. “You shall do John no good if you are held for discipline. I feel your anger – I _agree_ with it! – but you cannot let it loose any further lest he suffer for it!”

“Yeah,” Ronon grunted. “He won’t like it if he wakes up and finds you in jail ‘cause you went off on those asstards.”

Rodney groaned, letting his head hang down. “ _Must_ you learn slang and insults from the Marines?”

“Didn’t; Sheppard taught me that one.”

Elizabeth had instructed a few Marines to take the scientists away to the brig. That done, she moved toward them as Ronon let go and stepped to the side while a medic inspected Rodney’s hand for damage.

“Holy smokes,” Elizabeth muttered. “I didn’t know you had that in you, Rodney.”

“My team made sure I knew how to throw a punch if I had to,” Rodney grumbled.

“Well, I can’t say as I disagree with their planning methods, but this was less about ‘fighting back’ and more like just fighting.”

“So put me in the brig—“

“So you can demolish them?”

“—or house arrest or whatever,” Rodney snapped, pulling his hand free, ignoring the medic’s protests. “Put it on my permanent file, for all I care! I _don’t_ care! What they did to John was the most horrible, despicable—!”

“Rodney, I’m not arguing!” Elizabeth replied, holding up a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture. “I won’t discipline you – _this_ time. I can understand team loyalty and friendship. But you _can’t_ just go around slugging people, no matter how much they deserve it!”

“Don’t you think I _know_ that?” Rodney shouted back. “If I didn’t, I’d have been decking idiots left and right from the first day here!”

“Before even that, probably,” Elizabeth retorted, but with a small smile. “Okay, fine, I get it. Just… stay quiet and keep out of it for now. I’ll get them sent back and figure out what’s to be done with them. _If_ I need suggestions from you, I’ll ask you for them, got it?”

Rodney grumbled wordlessly, but nodded assent.

“Fine. Sheppard’s been taken to the Infirmary. You’ll probably want to go check on him, all three of you, so—“

“Doc McKay had better get to the Infirmary, Colonel,” Lorne said, coming up behind Rodney.

“Oh, God, is Sheppard—?” Rodney broke off with a squeak as Lorne pressed one hand against a very sore part of his backside. “What the hell are you—?!”

His words broke off as Lorne lifted his hand to show shiny red wetness on his fingers; not a lot, but enough to be noticeable.

“Holy shit!” Rodney squeaked. “What: are you military people supposed to turn your fingernails into claws?”

Lorne smirked at him. “Nah, Doc – but it’s not a bad idea.”

Rodney rolled his eyes.

Elizabeth sighed. “Go get yourself checked out and cleaned up, Rodney.”

McKay gave her a sarcastic salute and then took off, wincing and hissing as the motion of walking stretched his wounded glutes.

Teyla dipped her head quickly toward Elizabeth, and then followed her teammate. Ronon, smirking, sauntered after them.

Elizabeth watched them all go, and then shared a glance with Lorne. She blew out a breath, her cheeks puffing momentarily, and muttered, “Holy wow!”

“You said it, ma’am,” he agreed, and turned to begin dispersing the crowd.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Rodney sat with his backside hanging over the edge of the stool in his lab, a comfy cushion stuffed between himself and the unforgiving metal. He stared, blankly, at a report on his laptop screen, but he wasn’t actually reading it.

It had been days since what the soldiers were calling the ‘Monkey Incident’. Jones, Khalil, and Dackins had been shunted home through the Stargate; Landry having taken such a dim view to Sheppard being compromised by their thoughtlessness that he wasn’t willing to wait for the Daedalus to retrieve them. Landry wasn’t the only military personnel to be incensed at the crime perpetrated upon Sheppard. Word spread quickly amongst the military contingent, and when the scientists arrived through the ‘Gate, three IOA representatives and the heads of the various science departments at the SGC had to be present to protect the three idiots.

Jack O’Neill, who had come to the Mountain in response to the report sent to him by Elizabeth Weir, had looked with cold and sarcastic disdain upon the three men as they were escorted away for their debriefing and their termination from the Stargate program.

“Amazing,” he was heard to comment. “Given what they did to Sheppard, I’m surprised they’re intact. I’d have thought McKay and the other two would have shredded them to pieces before they could even make it this far.”

“McKay gave it his best shot, from what I understand,” Landry added dryly. “His team actually held him back from doing any serious damage that would have sent him back to Earth as well. Just looking out for their friends, you know.”

“See, that’s what I like: loyalty and dedication,” O’Neill replied. 

“Weir did caution me that any charges brought against Sheppard under DADT would be most strenuously objected to.”

“I don’t see how there could be any charges,” O’Neill shot back. “I didn’t see nothin’, nobody’s told me nothin’, and the only thing I need to ask is what they came through here for: if they deliberately dosed another person with a psychotropic substance. Anything else is just too damn messy. Personal stuff – ick.”

“Oh, I fully agree,” Landry had smirked.

“Kiss ass.”

“With the best of ‘em.”

Rodney had been sent a copy of the ‘Gateroom footage so he could have that happy little memory. It did help to cheer him up for a little while, but as the days went by and it became exceedingly obvious that Sheppard was avoiding him like the plague, his mood soured once again.

He couldn’t help feeling like he was being punished by Sheppard. Then again, maybe he was. After all, the Three Idiots (as they’d come to be known) wouldn’t have gotten the idea if he hadn’t pranked John first. They had erroneously assumed that the lack of true anger and/or a vicious retaliation from John, and the continued close friendship between Sheppard and McKay, meant _they_ could also get away with it.

Rodney had no doubt now that the Three Idiots had learned that only those closest to Sheppard were allowed to take such liberties with him – all others were immediately identified as enemies and dealt with in swift order.

Rodney shuddered, dropping his face into his hands as he propped his elbows on the desk. He recalled the _look_ on John’s face as he’d drawn down on the Three Idiots. He’d never seen Sheppard look so bleak before. Well, no, once; during the incident with the Ascension Device, when he’d had thought Rodney was going to die permanently instead of Ascend. Sheppard had tried, then, to put on a brave face but the despair had been too obvious.

But this… McKay shuddered again and tried not to throw up. What they’d done to John had been too horrible. He knew how much John valued his control. For Sheppard to have retaliated by drawing down with intent to kill signified how very violated he felt.

The fact that the scientists of Atlantis had had to step in, _reluctantly_ , to keep watch on the Three Idiots until they could be delivered to Stargate Command had further indicated how well-respected and liked Sheppard was. The military contingent had been kept away from them. The scientists had made it clear they were taking up the slack of guarding the Three Idiots purely because they would not allow any Lantean to be tarnished with shame should anything happen to them.

Rodney’s activities and whereabouts had been closely monitored; so closely, in fact, that he couldn’t even get away with tampering with any water or electrical conduits to make them miserable in their cell.

He sighed into his hands, tired and upset. Had he screwed up so badly that he’d lost Sheppard’s friendship? He’d been truly, horribly angry with Rodney before – the Arcturus project being one big example – but he’d eventually forgiven him. Had his screw up this time gone too far?

“Hey.”

Startled, Rodney jolted on his stool, pulling his face out of his hands even as he whipped his head around to face the door.

“Sheppard!” he said, unable to help his wide eyes and hopeful smile. “Hey! Hi! Um… hi.”

John offered him a tiny smile; not very amused, but enough to respond to Rodney. He looked… defeated, and that made Rodney’s gut ache. Sheppard was scruffy with stubble, his eyes ringed with dark that signified a loss of sleep, and he seemed somehow diminished.

It only made Rodney want to murder the Three Idiots all over again.

“Hey,” John said again, his voice low and gruff as he stepped into McKay’s lab. “You okay?”

“I… um?” Rodney blinked, surprised. “I… uh. Yes? I think? Maybe? Or no, not really.”

The smile returned, a little bigger than before. Rodney felt a thrill at the sight of it.

“Why do you ask?” he queried.

“Stopped in to check on you, like I’ve been doing,” Sheppard said with a shrug, his hands in the front pockets of his trousers. “You looked upset.”

“You’ve – when?” Rodney asked, surprised. “I never saw you!”

“Didn’t want you to.”

He frowned. “Look, Sheppard—“

He broke off with a yelp as, in the act of sitting up straighter, his right shoulder cracked loudly as it released tension in a hurry. Wincing, he grabbed at it and said a bad word.

A few seconds later, warm hands settled gently on either side of his shoulder. Startled, his hand fell away and he blinked at the other man. “What…?”

John’s hazel eyes weren’t looking directly at Rodney. He kept his gaze on McKay’s shoulder and his own hands as he began to press and knead.

Rodney shuddered and slumped in his seat, moaning his pleasure. “Ohhhhhh, God. Oh. Ohhhhh. You… ah… mmmmmmmmmm.”

John snorted and moved behind him to get the other shoulder with a massage, too. “Jesus, McKay – you’re nothing but knots!”

Rodney couldn’t even formulate a decent reply, too busy wallowing in the pleasure of John’s hands – warm and strong and comforting – taking away the tension and twinges.

Several moments later, as Sheppard’s hands were gliding smoothly down over his collar bones and upper chest and then back up, Rodney hummed and mumbled, “Remind me to return the favor some time.”

John chuckled, low and husky. “You know how to massage?”

“Mmmm. Learned in the hopes that if I gave them, I’d get them.”

“Did you?”

Rodney made a sad sound because, hey, _massages_. “No.”

John tsked, but kept massaging; moved his hands from McKay’s shoulders all the way down his back, and Rodney slumped forward with a happy whimper.

Right up until John’s hands slid over the curves of Rodney’s backside. He inadvertently pressed on the spots where his fingernails had broken through the scientist’s trousers to puncture his skin.

Rodney couldn’t help rocking forward away from John with a short little yowl of pain. Immediately after, he turned on his stool to find Sheppard backing away from him, his hands held high and a sick look of frustration and regret on his face.

“Shep – _John_ ,” Rodney began, and the other man held his hands palm-out at him.

“No,” John said shortly. “No. Just… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Rodney made a frustrated noise. “I _know_ that, you dolt!” At Sheppard’s narrow-eyed glare, McKay glared right back at him. “John, I’m frankly amazed you didn’t try to shoot _me_ , too.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, John curled his lip at the other man. “Why? I’m _in love_ with you, remember?”

“Not from the way you’re acting, no,” Rodney shot back. “I thought… I thought you’d been avoiding me entirely; _hating_ me because they got the idea to prank you from when I did it.”

John gaped at him, his arms falling away from his chest. “ _Hate_ you?”

Rodney grimaced and looked away. “Well… yes.”

Sheppard sighed roughly. “You are the most _stupid_ genius I have ever met.”

The laser-hot glare McKay gave him should have made him burst into flames.

“Look,” John said, ignoring the vicious glower, “I’m… yeah, okay, I’m embarrassed that I was turned into a monkey in front of my command. I’m… not embarrassed about what I feel, just how it came out in the open – and that so much money was made on a bet about us.”

“I can understand that,” Rodney said softly, thinking of the amount of money that had changed hands in the betting pool. At John’s ‘Yeah, right’ look, McKay scowled. “I’ve been the victim of more than one horrible prank, John. You know what I’m like. Many people have thought I needed to be ‘taken down a peg or two’ in the most humiliating way possible. The worst was waking up on the quad of one of my schools, naked, and wrapped suggestively around a blow-up doll while people gathered around to point and laugh. The fact that I’d been _roofied_ to get me there didn’t seem to matter much to anyone.”

Sheppard’s face went dark with fury.

Rodney sighed and looked away. “Look, I’m not – I don’t – I’m not trying to One-Up a reel of Most Embarrassing Moments, here. I’m just saying I can empathize.”

John sighed and scrubbed wearily at his face. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Rodney nodded, having nothing to say.

Sheppard gestured vaguely at him and said, “Sorry for the, uh, the… you know.”

McKay smirked. “The puncture wounds?”

John glared at him and Rodney grinned as he said, “It’s alright. I think you responded better than anyone expected, really.”

“I _hurt_ you and I tried to murder those fucking bastards!”

“You didn’t _deliberately attempt_ to hurt me and as for those untrustworthy bastards… what’s the phrase? Rendered them inert? I’d have done the same.”

John sighed and grimaced. “Yeah… I can see that, actually.” He moved away; walked around McKay’s desk, heading for the door. “I’m tired. I think I can sleep, finally. Gonna go do that.”

“Okay.” Rodney watched him go. Just before he walked out the door, McKay said, “John?”

Sheppard paused; listening, but not looking back.

“If it had been me they dosed… me that had been told to kiss the one I care about most… I’d have kissed you.” Rodney’s face burned at the embarrassment of voicing his private feelings, but he figured that John shouldn’t be the only one out there in the hellscape of humiliation.

For a long moment, John did nothing. Finally, he nodded once and then left the lab, the door sliding closed behind him.

Rodney sighed and dropped his head onto his arms on the desk.

 

 

End


End file.
